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Defining diets: Definitions of diet composition used in human research
Author(s) -
Najm Nadia,
Milanes Jillian,
Brown Michelle Bohan
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.30.1_supplement.lb211
Subject(s) - obesity , inclusion (mineral) , composition (language) , medicine , human nutrition , human studies , gerontology , psychology , endocrinology , pathology , social psychology , linguistics , philosophy
Background The importance of dietary research as it pertains to health outcomes has become increasingly important in the prevention and treatment of chronic diseases. However, dietary compositions used in studies on human health appear to vary widely in their definition. Purpose The objective of this study was to examine author's description of diet composition in published manuscripts. Methods We searched the Web of Science database for six diet types: high/low versions for carbohydrate, fat, and protein respectively and obesity related outcomes. Inclusion Criteria: Randomized controlled trials in humans with obesity outcomes and articles in the English language. Results The search for high fat diet and obesity related outcomes yielded 560 articles, 12 met the inclusion criteria. Of the 12, three articles gave no definition for a high fat diet, 5 articles gave a partial definition, and 4 articles gave a full definition for a high fat diet. Of the 9 studies that provided any definition for the high fat diet, the percentage of fat ranged from 43% to 70%. Conclusion No clear definition of a high fat diet in humans was found. The specifications for diet composition in human studies were ambiguous and/or variable, making the comparison and application of the existing evidence difficult.